The Soldier and the Nanny
by Melody Starr31
Summary: Steve Rogers,the eligible man of two centuries, butts heads with the new nanny for Tony and Pepper's little boy. Not understanding why, Steve is determined to find out why and break down the nanny's walls and learn about her past. However Steve was not expecting her to so much like him and his life story. (AU before age of ultron. WARNING:Does mention rape and strong language)
1. Chapter 1

**Been a long time since I have posted anything so I feel this is gonna be horrible. This chapter (and the whole story) might be kind of slow for awhile. Please review if you want more! I will post another chapter or two anyways just to kick it off though. Peace out! Enjoy!**

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It was three years after Ultron had attacked the Avenger's and their lives seemed to be going pretty well. None of them were faced with any huge missions over the time and grew together as a family. Tony and Pepper and discovered they were expecting a baby and had decided to tie the knot before the baby arrived. Since Thor was now the ruler of Asgard him and Jane only visited a few times a year. Barton also only visited every once in awhile due to wanting to be with his family. The other three Avengers, Steve, Natasha, and Bruce, lived in the Stark tower in New York with the Stark family since they didn't have any other family.

It was a midsummer morning and everyone was in the family kitchen going about his or her own business until Pepper looked at her watch and spoke to Tony.

"Tony, the nanny for Adam should be arriving soon," Pepper said.

The strawberry blonde had a giggling baby boy of about 18 months balanced on her hip as she ate her breakfast at the counter. The baby tugged at his mother's hair trying to reclaim her full attention.

Tony peered over the top of his newspaper with a skeptical look on his face. "The nanny? Since when are we getting a nanny?"

Pepper turned slowly to stare at her husband in astonishment. "The one that we talked about all this last month and that you agreed to. I had told you we needed a nanny so we could focus on work." Tony opened his mouth to butt in but Pepper cut him off. "Tony, Bruce and Steve can't keep watching the baby 24/7. They need to get back to their own lives and save the world too. You're not the only one with a life or the only hero."

"It's not like Capsicle has much of a life anyways. He just sits on his floor eating ice cream and watching chic flicks all by his lonely self." Tony made a mock crying face.

Steve's face puckered up as he looked at Tony. "I do not. Pepper on the other hand does and you find nothing wrong with that." Pepper shrugged her shoulders in agreement. "I also don't want a committed relationship yet…" he trailed off.

Tony set his paper down, tucked his hands under his chin, and batted his eyelashes. "Is the great Captain America, one of the most eligible man of two centuries, scared no one is gonna wanna date an old man?"

"No. I jut don't want to risk someone getting hurt because they are dating a super hero. Look at everything Pepper has gone through because of you. I already lost somebody and I'm not ready for that to happen again." Steve slouched a little in his seat and crossed his arms.

"You're just a wussy and scared your ass is gonna get dumped. Plus live a little! Bang a chick for a night and kick her out!" Tony winked and laughed at the uncomfortable look on Steve's face.

Pepper walked over to Tony and smacked up the backside of his head. "Can you two please just knock it off? I'm tired of hearing you two arguing about stupid things, and so is everyone else." The rest of the team nodded in agreement.

"Mrs. Stark," Jarvis spoke out, "the nanny is down on the main floor. Should I send her up?"

"No, tell her Tony and I will be down in a minute." Pepper shifted the baby on her hip and shot a very pointed look at her husband. "The nanny is here. Let Steve finish his breakfast and let's go."

Tony adopted the look of a kicked puppy and slowly shuffled behind Pepper to the elevator to meet the new nanny.

After meeting the nanny the couple showed her to the floor she would be staying on so she could unpack. The nanny was half way through unloading her clothes when she heard a knock on her quarter's door. Upon opening the door she was greeted by a tall broad shouldered blonde.

The male looked at her with eyes wide and surprise. What he saw was definitely not what he imagined the nanny to look like. Taking his time he studied the women. She was just above average height, thin, muscular. Her skin was a soft creamy tan and she had long brown curly hair with a stripe of red. She wore a black beanie, white fitting t-shirt, red flannel tied around her waist, dark black jeans, and combat boots. Her nose was also pierced along with a few spots on her ears. Her makeup consisted of greys and whites that made her cat like olive colored eyes standout.

"You're the nanny," the blonde stated in disbelief.

The women cocked her head to the side and gave a lopsided smile. "Yes, Catalina. And you are…?" Her voice had an Italian accent. She flipped her hair over her shoulder put a hand on her hip as she leaned on the door jam.

"I'm Steve. Steve Rogers. Or Captain America." Steve blinked before taking a small step back. "I'm sorry if that came out rude. I just didn't think the nanny would look so…"

"Irresponsible," she replied back very straight forward.

"No, well, yes." Steve rubbed his neck and looked down.

"Nice to know Mr. Red, White, and Blue has an opinion on me already." She crossed her arms and gave a know it all smirk. "I get it all the time."

"I didn't say you were irresponsible! You just don't look like how I imagined." Steve's face started to turn a little red from embarrassing himself.

The nanny rolled her eyes. "Well if you were expecting a slim women in a matron's dress who would just jump into your arms you're wrong. Get use to it. It's not the 20th century anymore."

Steve flinched a little when he realized that he had somehow offended the newcomer and tried to change the conversation. "I'm very sorry if I offended you in any way. Anyhow, It's nice to meet you. Would you like any help unloading or moving anything?" Steve made a move to step into the room but was stopped when he felt her small and strong hand on his chest.

Catalina placed her other hand on her door. "Yeah, no. I'm not stupid Mr. Rogers. I'm not letting any men just waltz in here at will. Goodnight!" Catalina gave Steve a push and slammed the door.

Steve glared at the door and then walked towards his headquarters. "Doesn't seem much like nanny material."

Later that night Steve had wondered down to the kitchen for a late night snack and slowed down once he saw Catalina bending over to get something out of the fridge. Steve eyed the fruit bowl on the counter and cursed inwardly at how far away it was. Then he realized he would have to squeeze past Catalina and cursed more. To be honest for some reason he felt intimidated by Catalina but couldn't figure out why.

Tiptoeing Steve tried to make it across but was stopped when Catalina stood up, closed the fridge door, and looked right at him with a slightly judgmental face.

"You really think I couldn't hear you? And for god's sake, just say excuse me if you want by." Catalina leaned against the counter and open up her container of leftovers. Popping her food into the microwave she hopped up onto the counter and played with the fork in her mouth.

Steve grabbed an apple and leaned against the counter; taking a bite of his apple.

"So…" Steve drawled out slowly.

Catalina sighed. Of course he would want to talk and get to know her.

"Are you personally from Italy or do you have family from Italy?" He looked at her and saw the scowl on her face. "I'm just wondering cause of, you know, your accent."

Catalina pulled her food out of the microwave and stirred it while she spoke. "I am from Italy. Born and raised. It was only four years ago that I have moved here."

Steve took a bite of his apple while he thought of another question. He wanted to get to know her and try to break this barrier of awkwardness between them.

"Do you have any family in America?"

Freezing Catalina rested her fork in the container of food. "No. I don't." Her response was sharp and curt.

Steve tilted his head to the side a little and studied her face. She looked sad and lost in thought. As a natural comforting habit of his, he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, which she promptly swatted away. "Goodnight." She spat as she all but marched out of the room with her food. Steve just stood there looking after her stupidly wondering what he could possibly do to make friends with the new nanny.


	2. Chapter 2

**This Chapter isn't much of an action chapter but more explanatory. Again this story might be slow but please review and fallow! I really see how far I can go with this story and feel lame if no one is gonna read it! Love you all! Chapter 3 will be up soon!**

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A few days passed by since Catalina had arrived and everything was going somewhat smoothly. Catalina had been spending the few days learning how to take care of Adam so she was prepared for when Pepper and Tony's busy lives called. Steve watched her as Pepper showed her around the tower and how everything worked. He noticed she seemed unsure and confused a lot of the time like she didn't understand anything in the tower; especially the appliances and electronics.

No matter how frustrated she was though, Catalina still smiled and nodded politely to Pepper. She rarely smiled when no one was looking though (or when she thought no one was looking), and smiled the most when a certain assassin showed up.

Catalina had been sitting in the living room when the red head walked in just after getting home from a mission. At first Catalina didn't pay any attention to the newcomer until she heard her yell, "CAT!" and was engulfed in a strong hug. At first she was taken aback but gleefully yelled back Natasha's name and gave her a hug.

Steve and Bruce were the only ones utterly confused; Pepper and Tony carried on as if this was normal for the assassin to break out in joy when seeing a complete stranger. After seeing the confusion on their faces Pepper explained Natasha and Catalina had known each other for a few years and Natasha was the one to suggest her as a nanny.

From then on everyone carried on normally with their lives and acted as if it was normal for yet another person to join them in the tower. Catalina did her work as nanny and left the tower as often as she could when she wasn't needed. When she was in the tower she was polite to everyone but was hesitant when it came to speaking her mind when she was around the men of the tower. She would tense up a little but also looked at ease and strong when she was around the men.

Catalina also tried to avoid using as much technology as possible but no one could figure out why. When Catalina did need help with something she would always ask Natasha first who would help without hesitation. It was obvious that Natasha and Catalina were close friends and understood each other on the same level. It was also clear that they knew about each other's pasts and respected each other. The two women were like sisters and it was a little scary how well they got along.

However friendly Catalina seemed towards the other Avengers though Steve couldn't help feeling she didn't take a liking to him at all. Whenever she spoke to him there was always a bit of acid to her tone and she squinted her eyes in anger. It frustrated him, not knowing why Catalina didn't like him. She did do this to the other men in the house but did it more often and had more acid directed towards him specifically. He thought to himself if he could have possibly done something wrong but realized there wasn't even room in their first meeting for him to do something wrong. He was polite and had apologized for the little misunderstanding after all.

He was determined though. Steve told himself he would do everything he possibly could to understand Catalina and find out why she didn't like him. Catalina was exactly how he would imagine the nanny to be personality wise but was curious about what she was hiding and why she was trying so hard to hide it. The clothing style obviously wasn't what she was use to. She also looked sad and scared most of the time when she though no one could see her.

Steve would get her to break down her walls. He was sure of it. Who could resist him? He wasn't romantically interested in her; just wanted to be friends and understand her. Right? Or was he really falling for this mysterious girl? He kept telling himself no but he felt it was partially a lie.

A few days had passed and life became extremely busy for the Avengers and they all wanted to just go home. It was after a week of what seemed like nonstop calls that the team finally got a breather. They landed the Quintjet and then proceeded to flop on the nearest available surface. Natasha and Bruce managed to make it to a couch and Tony found an armchair. Steve, Thor, and Clint just gave up and took up residence on the floor not intending to move for at least 14 hours, maybe more.

Just as they were finally starting to doze off the unsure pitter-patter of little feet could be heard coming down the corridor. Tony cracked his eye open when he felt a pulling at the chair. He saw his little boy trying very hard to climb up into Tony's lap. Just as Tony was going to reach down and grab Adam a pair of smaller hands grabbed his son and placed the baby on Tony's lap.

Most of the Avenger's had forgotten there would be a third person to welcome them home after their mission so Tony was a little startled when he looked up to see Catalina there. He was a little shocked that neither he nor anyone else had heard her approach, not even Barton or Romanov. He gave her a confused look and she took that to mean that he was wondering why she had brought Adam. "JARVIS told us you were back and since Adam had been asking for you and refused to sleep I thought he could come see you. We could go back to the nursery if you want to rest."

Tony readjusted Adam on his lap being careful of the bruising that he had sustained during a tangle with a particularly large pig-lizard thing. "No, I have barely seen this little fella and I need some serious Daddy time. Where's Pepper?"

Catalina's face softened at the love between her boss and her charge. "She's sleeping. She didn't get home till late tonight and so I offered to watch Adam if you don't need me I have some work I have been meaning to catch up on."

"Yes yes. Thank you. Have fun." Tony gave her a small wave. She waved back and walked back to her room hearing the sound of Tony telling Adam all about "The big mean piggy-lizard."

Later, when the team had finally managed to drag themselves to the kitchen and shovel whatever calories they could find into their faces Steve felt like he was finally back to a version of normal. After that most of the team headed off to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep. Tony put Adam in his crib and joined Pepper in their room. Clint decided to take residents on the couch for the night and go home tomorrow. Bruce and Natasha headed to their floor; Natasha practically dragging a half asleep Banner. Thor went home that night so he could take care of Asgard and see Jane.

Steve could never sleep after a mission due to constant nightmares so he did what he always did: he went to the gym for a workout. He headed down to the gym level and took a deep breath as he was met by cool fresh air-conditioned air. He started off with his usual run on the treadmill and the proceeded to the punching bags. They bags however, were nowhere to be found. Instead he was met by various gymnastics equipment.

He moved over to inspect it. It looked very new and very expensive. He thought the new equipment was odd because he, Clint, and Natasha were the only ones who really did any form of gymnastics but never in this form. The three of them usually just did floor work and used the walls. Shrugging it off he continued to look for the punching bags but stopped when he heard a soft and faint noise.

It was humming. Calm and gentle. It wasn't anything musical but more of a meditational hum.

Steve fallowed the humming to the back of the gym where the ceiling was higher. In front of him were two thick pieces of white fabric hanging from the ceiling. He reached out to touch them but pulled his hand away quickly when he saw them move. Looking up he saw non other than Catalina with her legs intertwined in the silk hanging upside town with her arms stretched above her head. Her eyes were closed and her hair hung below her as she meditated.

Not wanting to disturb how peaceful she looked, Steve started to back away but cursed when he tripped on the spring floor and fell.

Catalina's eyes flew open and she quickly untangled herself from the silks and slid down one. Landing gracefully on the floor she looked at Steve with anger. "Why were you watching me?" She demanded.

Steve stood up stepped back from her. "I was curious about all the new equipment and was trying to figure out what it was. I didn't mean to startle you. I didn't even know you were in the gym."

Catalina scooted back to her silks and wrapped a leg around one of them; preparing to go back up. "Well now you do. So give me my space and I'll give you yours. Feel free to use any of the equipment besides my silks."

"Thank you." Steve rubbed the back of his neck. "You're amazing by the way." Catalina looked at him funny. "I mean the silks. With the silks."

Catalina's face softened and her body eased a little. "Thank you." She said quietly.

Steve took a step forward. "How long have you been doing this?" He gestured towards the silks.

Catalina went rigid again. She doesn't like being asked personal questions. "About three years. And the rest of the gymnastics skills I have done since I was five."

"Well, it's amazing." Steve clapped his hands in nervousness. He could tell she was getting more and more tense by the minute.

Steve walked away and let out the air he didn't realize he was holding.


	3. Chapter 3

**So this chapter was really bothering me and I went back and rewrote it so I could write the next chapter. Please enjoy, follow, and review!**

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After Steve had left her alone, Catalina was at peace and was starting to fall asleep in her makeshift silk hammock. However, it wasn't long before she was startled awake by the loud noises of Steve on the spring floor. She heard him fall and land with too much force and let out an "oomf" when he landed wrong.

Getting frustrated Catalina untangled herself from her silks once more and landed gracefully. She walked over to the spring floor to find Steve prepping for a difficult move. Instantly Catalina could see his mistakes.

"Stop," She said as she crossed her arms and walked towards him. "You're gonna hurt my floor. Let me help you. You are prepping wrong and are landing too hard."

Steve looked at her stunned. This was the first time she had talked to him directly since their first interaction.

"Ok. What do you suggest," he gestured to the floor as he bounced on the balls of his feet.

Catalina unfolded her arms and started to explain what he was doing wrong. After her first few words though Steve was distracted when she rolled her neck to stretch it. Steve couldn't help but notice how perfect her body bent as she stretched. And since she was wearing a leotard he could see every muscle and curve. Steve's mouth grew dry and he shook his head. These thoughts were not ok or normal when thinking about new members in the tower, Steve told himself. A second later he felt Catalina's strong grip on his chin to avert his eyes up to hers.

"Yeah, hello. My eyes are up here Mr. I have a teenage boys brain." She pulled her hand away. "After all I guess you weren't much older than one when you were frozen. Now as I said when you were off in la la land, you need to bounce a little when you land. Don't land and stick it. You need to bounce a little. Get a little air. It will stop hurting my floor." Catalina looked down at his shins and pointed to where they were taped. "It will also be easier on your shins." She looked back up at his eyes; taking her time to study him.

"Did you just check me out?" Steve's face reddened.

"Maybe." Catalina gave a bitchy know it all smirk. "Bouncing will also make it easier for you to do multiple tricks in a row."

With that Catalina positioned herself at one corner of the floor and did a small sprint. Sticking her hands out she did a cartwheel into two back handsprings and landed with a back tuck at the other corner of the floor; she bounced a little at the end and he arms we naturally positioned above her head.

Steve took notice on how her landing was quiet and soft but also how she had a small bounce at the end. He crossed his arms and gave a lopsided smile. "I can do that."

Catalina crossed the floor and patted him on the shoulder. "Be my guest. This outta be good. I can't wait to see you land on your ass."

Steve did everything Catalina did almost perfectly but landed wrong at the end. He had his feet too far in front of him and landed on his back with yet another "oomf".

Trying to catch his breath he laid there for a moment. He felt the floor bounce and then saw Catalina flying above him. She landed softly behind him and nudged his shoulder with her foot.

"Damn it. You didn't die." She gave another bitchy smirk. "Told you. You couldn't do it."

Steve stood up and glared at her. "Oh yeah." His face broke out into a malicious smile. "How are you with hand do hand combat."

Catalina's eyes widened and she took a small step back. "I-I don't think that's a good idea…" Her voice was quiet.

Steve put his fists up and started to bounce again. "Come on. Pepper wouldn't have given the job to someone who couldn't handle combat and protecting themselves and a child. You do live in a tower of super heroes who have people who hate them. Just take a small swing. I'll go easy."

Catalina breathed in and took a swing for his head. Steve dodged it and counteracted her swing and tried to kick her legs out from behind her. Like she usually did, Catalina jumped and landed softly.

Next Catalina grabbed Steve's shoulders and slammed her head into his, causing him to stumble backwards. She then elbowed him in the ribcage and swiped his legs out from under him with her leg.

Steve landed on his back for Odin knows how many times that night and squeezed his eyes shut in pain. Opening them he saw his opponent getting ready to elbow slam him. Rolling out of the way Steve caused her to land hard on the ground now. Taking his chance Steve grabbed her arms and pinned them above her head as he straddled her.

"I win," Steve smirked but it was soon gone when he looked at Catalina.

He hadn't thought about how awkward this must be for her. With Natasha this was normal because they knew each other and knew each other's boundaries. However, Steve didn't think about how hard he could push Catalina and how uncomfortable she might be.

Still looking at Catalina, Steve saw her squirming to try and move from under him. Her breathing was shallow and she had tears streaming down her face. There was no pain though. She wasn't crying cause she was in pain; she was crying cause she was scared.

Steve slowly and gently moved off of her so she could get up. Once she was free, Catalina got up quickly and just about ran out of the gym.

Sitting there dumb founded Steve cursed at himself. He was just getting her to open up and he screwed it up. He should have known it was a bad idea. Thinking about their recent interactions though he learned quiet a bit. She was a gymnast, knew a little bit of hand to hand combat, and was a decent teacher.

Analyzing this information Steve grew curious about how she acquired all of these skills. Since she was still somewhat young he decided she probably spent most of her life training or was pushed hard to train. She fascinated him. She was strong, hard working, graceful, great with children, and was beautiful.

Her beauty alone got his attention. Her thin muscular figure, those plump lips and her sparkling icy blue eyes; the way her hair flipped and twirled around her perfectly. Steve all but wanted to hug her and dance.

But he had made her uncomfortable. She probably felt sexually harassed in some way.

Steve cursed at himself. He was getting frustrated. Getting up he was determined to find the punching bags. He needed to think and clear his head. He definitely wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.

Natasha and Bruce woke up to the sound of cupboards being slammed across the hall from their headquarters. Thinking of whose headquarters it was Natasha got up, grabbed her robe and told Bruce to go back to bed.

Crossing the hallway Natasha heard glass break and a faint "Fuck" come from behind the door. Natasha knocked on the door and waited a minute. When there was no reply she entered the lock pin and let herself in. What she saw in front of her was a bit alarming but didn't surprise her.

Catalina was balled up on the couch cradling a bottle of grappa with another bottle and a shattered glass on the floor. She was shaking and bawling and obviously needed a hug.

Natasha crossed the room, removed the bottle of liquor, and pulled her best friend into a hug.

"Shhh," She said soothingly as they rocked back and forth. "Cat, it's ok. You're ok."

After awhile Catalina calmed down and stopped shaking a little. She pulled back from Natasha and whipped her face. "Why the FUCK can I not get drunk?" She all but almost yelled.

Natasha sat cross-legged on the couch and looked at Catalina. " That's something I think you should ask Steve. You can relate to him there. And what happened sweetheart? Why are you such a mess?" She only ever used sweetheart when she was trying to help and be a big sister.

"It's Steve. And every other damn thing is this world Tasha. I can't do it anymore…" Catalina reached her hand out for the grappa.

Natasha took a swig first before giving it back to Catalina.

No one would sleep tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

**I really wanted to stop continuing this story because I thought it was lame and would get no where. However, right now I am really bored and this chapter has been siting on my desktop forever. If people really want me to continue I will try. Please tell me what you want to see. 2 reviews and 3 new follows equals new chapter!**

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Catalina and Natasha lay on the floor of Catalina's headquarters staring at the ceiling. Natasha had gotten Catalina to open up a little and discuss what was wrong. The world was all just so new and confusing to her still. She didn't understand anything and couldn't keep up with everyone else. She was lonely and depressed.

Concerned for her friend, Natasha rolled over and took a swig of her vodka. Looking at her friend with distress she poked Catalina's cheek. As a response she got a glare from a set of puffy red eyes.

"Why did you do that?" Catalina asked

"Tell me about Steve."

Catalina's blinked a few times before speaking. "What do you mean?"

"You said Steve was bothering you. I get that he can sometimes be annoying and old fashioned, but you're not too far off yourself. He's such a gentleman. I just don't see how he's bothering you." Natasha started at her friend wide eyed as she waited for a response.

Catalina sat up and wiped a new set of tears away from her eyes. "It's nothing."

"Bullshit." Natasha's voice was cold and hard.

"He's a gentleman and sweet and caring. He's that perfect dream guy." Catalina took Natasha's vodka and downed it - seeing as she drank all the grappa and still couldn't get drunk.

"…And that's bad…?" Natasha was confused

Catalina sniffled. "I think it's all an act to get girls and use them. How can anybody be that perfect? He's using it to his advantage. But who cares. It's none of my business. I'm just the nanny."

Natasha smirked. "You like him."

A gasp was released from Catalina's mouth as her cheeks reddened. "I do not!"

"That's even more bullshit!" Natasha yelled and pointed at Catalina. "You know you do! You're just afraid…" Her voice trailed off.

She just crossed a line. Men were a touchy subject with Catalina.

Tears started to fill Catalina's eyes again.

"Yes. Maybe I am. I don't know. I'm confused about it. I'm confused about everything. And frankly I'd rather be dead right now than here struggling with all of this. My head can't handle any of this." She let her face fall into her hands and she started to sob.

Natasha grabbed Catalina's face and forced her to look up. "Don't you dare fucking say that. Shield did everything they could to bring you back and save you from the pain you were in.

Catalina pulled away and stood up. "I didn't ask for that! I didn't ask for this!" She waved her arms around to gesture towards everything. "They should have killed me. I'm and experiment gone wrong. I'm a waste. I'm worn and ruined. I'm dead."

Reaching out, Natasha placed a hand on her friends shoulder. "Cat. We couldn't let you die. We need you. You're a unique human being and we couldn't let that whither away. You're one of my best friends."

"You have Steve," Catalina snapped back.

"Yes we have Steve. He's not you though. You too are very similar but you guys are very different too. And I just wish you would go talk to him and reach out for help. Fury and I can only do so much to help you. And Steve needs you too."

"Steve doesn't need me. I don't need Steve. I feel like you and shield are just trying to play matchmaker for the freaks. Just because we are similar doesn't mean we can help each other or are perfect for each other."

Natasha sighed. "But Steve-"

Catalina threw the empty vodka bottle across the room. "I'm not gonna go talk to him Tasha. Just knock it off."

With that Catalina grabbed her jacket and walked out of her headquarters.

The elevator was not moving fast enough for Catalina. All she wanted was to get to the garage, hop on her bike, and leave. There was three more floors before the garage and of course the elevator stopped. And to make all of it even better in walked Steve Rogers. He had his shirt off and was wiping his face with it. Pressing his floor level Steve relaxed against the back wall. He had obviously been in the gym for the past few hours after Catalina left.

Catalina tried to make absolutely no noise as she reached out to press the close doors button. Steve hadn't noticed her yet and she wanted to keep it that way. The doors closed and the elevator started to move.

Right before the elevator hit the garage level it stopped moving and the lights shut off. Then the emergency lights came on and a small but well heard "Fuck" slipped passed Catalina's lips.

Man was that word her favorite when she's angry.

Steve jumped slightly and looked at Catalina. "I didn't see you. You scared me."

Catalina shot a glare at Steve and looked away; crossing her arms.

Then it hit Steve; the smell of alcohol, her red eyes and puffy cheeks, the cuts and scratches on her hands. She was hurting. Had he done this to her he wondered?

"I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to push you. I should have asked you about you're boundaries and made sure you were ok with everything-"

"Stop."

"I'm sor-"

Catalina walked over to him and swung her first at his jaw. Steve caught it and twisted her arm behind her and pulled her back into him. "What is your problem?"

Grunting Catalina went back to where she had been standing before and slid her back down the wall. Rubbing his now sore jaw Steve watched Catalina as she did this.

"Do you have a cell phone on you," Catalina asked.

Steve, now sitting himself on the floor, replied with a dry and annoyed "nope."

There was a long period of silence before Steve spoke again.

"Are you ok? Are you drunk? I may not know you very well but I know this isn't you." Steve was honestly concerned but Catalina couldn't put her hatred aside for him to see it.

"Ha!" She banged her head back into the wall. "No. I'm not ok. I haven't been ok in awhile."

"So getting drunk is how you deal with it?"

"I'm not drunk!"

Steve smiled in disgust. Why is she lying? "Right. Cause you know I cant smell any of the alcohol on you or see how big of a mess you are."

Catalina's upper lip curled in anger. "Listen buster, don't tell a girl she is a mess. It's only gonna make her angrier. Also I'm telling the truth, I'm not drunk…" She trailed off. Does she tell him? Taking in a deep breath she said it in a rush hoping he wouldn't hear it and she wouldn't have to repeat it. "Icantgetdrunk."

Steve blinked a couple times. His chest ached as his heart broke a little. She was in pain and, like him, couldn't drink her worries away. Bu how could she not get drunk?

"I can't get drunk either…" He scooted closer to her, "And I know how much it hurts. Wanting to just get rid of the pain you feel my making your mind go numb. Nothing works though. And you wish that you could just die…" Steve looked up at Catalina.

She was looking down at the ground between them; tears streaming down her face.

Steve's eyes started to weld up ash he reached out for her hands. At first she flinched and caved into herself, but then looked up at him.

Now she saw real concern and if not a bit of love – just friendly – and understanding. He really did care did want to get to know her. And she was pushing him away.

Then, all of a sudden, she fell into him. Her head buried into his chest and tears pouring from her eyes. She needed to let it out and he was willing to let her.

For now she was happy and thankful; deep down though she still had her doubts about him.


End file.
